CHEAP CREDITS PROVIDED TO FARMS AND AGRICULTURAL PROCESSING ENTERPRISES

Noyan Tapan
Mar 29 2006

YEREVAN, MARCH 29, NOYAN TAPAN. The process of crediting of Armenian
farms and agricultural processing enterprises started in Armenia with
10 mln dollars of the International Fund for Agriculture Development
(IFAD) and 5 mln dollars of the World Bank (WB). RA Deputy Minister
of Agriculture Gagik Khachatrian stated this at a round table
“The Food Safety Problems in Armenia” organized by the Aylntrank
Research Center. According to him, the credits are provided at a 10%
annual interest rate, which is considerably lower than the market
rate, for a 7-year period. In the opinion of G. Khachatrian, such
terms of crediting will help increase competitiveness of the the
Armenian agricultural complex’s production on foreign markets. 35
mln USD to be allocated under the respective component of Armenia’s
Millennium Challenge Program will also serve the purpose of advanced
technologies introduction in the agricultural sector. G. Khachatrian
noted that the Armenian agricultural processing companies and the
departments dealing with agricultural export problems regularly
participate in international agricultural exhibitions and forums
abroad. According to the speaker, it is envisaged to display the
production of 15-20 companies of the Armenian food industry at a large
international agricultural exhibition in Paris in early 2008. The
deputy minister said that many Armenian foodstuffs of vegetable origin
are exported to European Union countries, with exports growing each
year. G. Khachatrian noted that the ministry considers every proposal
for exports promotion put forward by representatives of the private
sector.